BRIDGEWATER -- The FBI shut down town hall Wednesday afternoon and removed several boxes of records from the building.

A marshal leaving town hall said he was working with the FBI and a search warrant was being executed. The FBI confirmed the activity but little else.

"We're there and that's about all I can say," said FBI spokesman Dan Curtin in the New Haven office. He turned aside all questions about what prompted the investigation and reports that the agents had seized town financial records as part of the search.

First Selectman William Stuart, reached on his cellphone, said he was not in town hall on Wednesday, he was out haying a field. But he said he had heard about the shutdown.

"The FBI has shown up, closed down town hall and started questioning everybody," said Stuart, a Democrat who has been the town's elected leader for 29 years.

Board of Finance Chairman Nancy Hawley, a Republican, said Wednesday that she was informed 10 to 15 FBI agents arrived at town hall about 12:15 p.m. and removed a number of records, specifically files from the treasurer's office and minutes of both Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance meetings.

"This is not an everyday occurrence," Hawley said.

Hawley said the assistant town clerk told her that one of the files taken was on The Burnham Fund, a charitable fund created in the 1920s, to help the less fortunate in town pay for necessities.

Over Stuart's long tenure, he had sole management of the fund until 2008. Since then, the Board of Finance has also had oversight. And in recent years there has been considerable controversy about how Stuart managed the Burnham account.

Concerns over the fund prompted an investigation in 2009 by the State Attorney General's office that has not yet concluded, Hawley said.

"This is a small town, and yet we have had more than our fair share of lawsuits against town officials," Hawley said.

Bridgewater, a generally quiet town with a population of just below 2,000 residents, is better known as the only dry town in the state. Alcohol cannot be purchased in Bridgewater.

A recent contention has been a lawsuit filed by Joseph Caruso, the town's elected treasurer, against Stuart over salary.

The Board of Finance had approved an $11,800 salary for Caruso, but Stuart said he should be paid only $5,000.

"I have concern that our elected treasurer is suing the town for a salary that was budgeted," Hawley said.

Stuart just recently changed the locks on town hall and deprived of Caruso access to keys, she said.

They charged the selectmen with "attempts to circumvent the election results" of November 2011 in their bid to reduce the salary of and undermine "financial oversight" of Caruso.

The finance duo claimed a May 25 town meeting was stacked with the selectmen's supporters when a motion was passed by a vote of 59-33 to request the finance board reduce the treasurer's salary by more than half.

Wednesday night a handwritten sign on pink construction paper was affixed to the front door of town hall -- "All meetings are canceled tonight."